Being Prepared for Diversity in Practice: Occupational Therapy Students' Perceptions of Valuable Intercultural Learning Experiences

Abstract

Occupational therapists are increasingly working in diverse areas of practice, in diverse settings and with diverse client groups. Accordingly, understandings of the complexities of interactions between service providers and clients, relative to the environments and contexts in which they come together, are requisite to competent practice. This article describes a phenomenological study undertaken with occupational therapy students in New Zealand, which focused on their experiences of learning to work with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this article, a subset of the findings from the study is presented. This subset of findings was that client-centredness and hands-on experiences in fieldwork were perceived to be the most important features of the occupational therapy students' education as preparation for working with clients from different cultural backgrounds. A presentation of narrative extracts and interpretive commentary is followed by a discussion of the implications of the findings for occupational therapy education, especially fieldwork education.

Practice, problems and power in ‘internationalisation at home’: critical reflections on recent research evidence

“…Whiteford and Wright St-Clair (2002) and Horton (2009) examines the rationale for internationalising occupational therapy -an applied science discipline. Both articles focus strongly on the need to equip graduates not for careers in other countries, but rather for intercultural careers in their home country.…”

The Impact of Classroom Instruction on Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity in Occupational Therapy Students

“…Culture is viewed as a broad concept and used as an inclusive term with no single, widely accepted definition in the literature (Rasmussen et al, 2005;Whiteford & St-Clair, 2002). The concept of culture is learned, shared, and socially constructed (Cheung, Shah, & Muncer, 2002;Humbert et al, 2012;Rasmussen et al, 2005).…”

“…Whiteford and St-Clair (2002) further defined cultural competence as "the ability of a person to work effectively and negotiate successful outcomes with clients from differing cultural backgrounds than themselves" (p.130). Cultural competency is viewed as a set of cognitive, behavioral, and affective/motivational components (Abbe, Gulick, & Herman, 2007).…”

“…Research has indicated that occupational therapy practitioners acknowledge the need to understand and develop cultural awareness and competency as a part of education and clinical practice (Cheung et al, 2002;Kale & Hong, 2007;Mu et al, 2010;Munoz, 2007;Murden et al, 2008;Rasmussen et al, 2005;Whiteford & St-Clair, 2002). Research shows that cultural awareness and competency are an evolving and developing process, yet continues to be "one of the least developed aspects of occupational therapy" (Awaad, 2003, p.358;Black & Wells, 2007).…”

“…The importance of developing curriculum to promote cultural competency and the development of cultural awareness for occupational therapy students is emerging in the research literature. Recent literature has indicated that it is now the profession's obligation to educate its students to produce graduates who are culturally aware and sensitive to cultural differences in order to succeed in culturally diverse settings (Cheung et al, 2002;Rasmussen et al, 2005;Whiteford & St-Clair, 2002). Rasmussen et al (2005) reported that studies in the current occupational therapy literature focus attention on the idea of cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competence of occupational therapy practitioners.…”